


Burger Queen

by widgenstain



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Blow Jobs, Bottom!Erik, Gay Mutant Road Trip, Loneliness, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Prostitution, Shower Sex, The Noughties, War mentioned, What is AE and BE spelling?, sort of, top!Charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-24 01:12:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/933357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/widgenstain/pseuds/widgenstain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After seeing James in his "stylish" baseball cap that makes him look like a <a href="http://widgenstain.tumblr.com/post/51751611951/miagirly-hughjackmania-hugh-jackman-and#notes">pasty truck-driver</a>, I've decided that there has to be a fic with Charles driving a semi through the country and Erik as a lot lizard (= a hooker working the truck stops). </p><p>Set in 2000, this is the angsty result.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burger Queen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LauryKos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LauryKos/gifts).



> A thousand thanks to the wonderful and beautiful [ chadekelevra](http://chadekelevra.tumblr.com/) who has betaed the whole thing and made it sound English! ~~Till does not equal 'til, who would have thought?~~
> 
> I would like to gift this to mcavoyings who seemed very taken by the prompt too and laury who I feel like I owe some top!Charles action. 
> 
> It also fits the "anal sex" square on my bingo card (what am I doing, none of the things I write are in one column or row!!) so it goes into the collection. 
> 
> The title is a cop-out and taken from the eponymous [ Placebo song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olpd0Nkn6h8). I'll leave it to you to decide which one of the boys is the title character.

Charles slammed the receiver back on the phone.  
They had unplugged the answering machine - he couldn’t even leave a message. David’s birthday was coming up; all he needed to know was what his son wanted for his present so Charles could send it to him. 

He wasn’t going to show up, not like last year. He had promised that to Gabrielle, despite her reaction having been completely over the top… and that he had changed. She herself had admitted so, and two weeks ago she had agreed that he could, and should, take part in their son’s life.  
And now she was deliberately cutting him out again. The only thing left for him to do was to call her every time he got to a phone. Show the bitch he wouldn’t give up that easily.  
Charles looked at the little convenience store.  
He REALLY needed a beer right now. But there was still almost 900 miles ahead of him and one beer wouldn’t stay one beer. Besides, he shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t.  
He bought a soda instead, and while he paid his gaze went over the clerk’s shoulder, out through the window and into the lot. 

In the back, two figures were talking. A blond woman, clad in a skimpy white shirt that concealed nothing, threw back her head and laughed so loud and shrill that Charles could hear it from behind the thick glass. Opposite of her was a man who didn’t seem to share her amusement.  
He was comparatively tall and broad-shouldered, but also very lean. The washed-out pair of jeans was hanging low on his narrow hips, exposing a good section of his flat stomach. 

Hookers. No, worse, lot lizards: even more depressing. Addicts selling their mouths at places like this for a few bucks. The lowest of the low in the hierarchy of prostitutes.  
Outside Charles took his hat off and let his fingers glide through his hair.  
He was in desperate need of a shower. It would come, in a few hours. 

For now he opened his soda and watched as the woman obscenely fondled her chest for a trucker who seemed to be disgusted by them. There wasn’t much of a chest to fondle. She was skinny, pale and greasy, hair bleached to death and frizzled. Her face, perhaps once pretty in a Barbie-like way, was marred by blemishes and yellow, loose teeth. She looked just as strung-out as she probably was, Charles thought, when she noticed him.  
She waved at him and he looked away, but his eyes were drawn back to the man next to her. He had watched her display with little interest and seemed generally bored but now his eyes were glued on Charles. He nodded at him and Charles nodded back.  
The woman hit her colleague on the chest and threw some expletives at him that Charles didn’t really hear. His attention was fully on the man who came his way in long struts, full of a poise Charles hadn’t expected. 

He wasn’t like the woman. There was so much self-control in the fluidity of his movements and even the slightly slouched shoulders couldn’t hide the coiled strength of the thin body.  
Even in his dark days Charles had been able to read people accurately, and this man spoke of hidden danger. The question was just if he would be dangerous to Charles.  
The closer the man came the more he revealed. He truly was skinny, gaunt even, but it somehow fit him. The emaciated face looked used and aged by something other than time, however, he appeared healthier than his female friend.  
The gingery hair was neat and the light eyes were focused and filled with caution and distrust. But they were clear and he seemed determined. 

“Hey. How’re you doing?”

His voice was husky and there was an accent in it Charles couldn’t yet place. 

“I’m okay. Yourself?” 

The man bared his teeth in a fake, small smile, examining him carefully and appraisingly. Charles was a threat or a gain to him, just as much as he was to Charles.

“Fine, I’m fine. Where’re you headed?” 

“Phoenix.” 

Charles watched the man as he pulled himself up in a more confident stance. He admired the clear-cut strong jaw, the long thin limbs of his wiry body that didn’t look like it had one ounce of fat on it, and the round, almost boyish, long-lashed eyes that stood in an intriguing contrast to the hard lines that made up the rest of him.  
He felt a pinch of shame at the thought, but even in all his seediness the man fit what Charles looked for in men down to a T. 

“Phoenix, hm? Haven’t been there in a while. It’s nice this time of year.” 

He waited, a question hanging in the air that Charles wasn’t ready to answer. Charles had dismissed the suspicion that the man was after his freight of office supplies, but he was still a hustler. He might not look as ragged and tattered as the others but he did belong to a group of people one should only feel compassion and pity for - not a sudden tightness in one’s pants.  
Charles had nodded at him, had called him over… and now he felt guilt stirring within him. He thought of the diseases and problems these people carried. Whatever made the man look fresher than the others, he still worked in the same circles as them, got in contact with the same rotten souls and viruses, and most likely was addicted to the same drugs.  
Otherwise he wouldn’t have ended up here.

“As nice as Phoenix ever will be.”

“So,” the man licked his lips, encouraged by the fact that Charles hadn’t shut him down yet, “would you take me there?” 

Charles had been on the road for three weeks straight. The office was struggling with the deliveries since Rogue was hurt and Logan was in investigative custody _again_. The stress, fucking Gaby, the knowledge that he didn’t have anyone “at home”… Was he really to blame if he wanted someone next to him? And was he really abusing the man’s situation?  
He _had_ propositioned him after all… 

Shit! He was making excuses. The fact was that he had done this before and he would do it again, with men and women he found far less attractive than this guy.  
And attractive he was.  
Charles had already noticed that from the convenience store. He wanted the man. The only thing he needed to do now was stop pretending to be holier than thou and act on it.

“How much?” 

The other man was a little surprised at the skip of dialogue but quickly said: “Ten bucks, if you take me to Phoenix after.”

Charles looked the tanned body up and down again before he nodded. The guy retrieved a linen satchel from where he had been standing with the woman, and they trotted over to Charles’ truck.

“I’m Charles, what’s your name?” He put his hat back on and opened the door for the tall man. 

“Call me Erik.” 

The name sounded Scandinavian, the accent didn’t and Charles smiled. As if he'll ever tell him.

Back in the driver’s seat, Charles got out his wallet while the hustler pointedly inspected the cabin, never looking at the money until Charles held the bill out for him. He took it and meticulously folded it up while Charles got comfortable against the door to his side. He wasn’t aroused much but the long, swift fingers that started working on his buttons quickly changed that. 

It had been weeks, months since someone else had touched him and this guy clearly knew what he was doing. He worked him with his spit slick palms until he was hard and when he lowered his hot, wet mouth on him, Charles couldn’t hold in the grunt. He was good, very good. Methodical yes, but it did the job just fine. 

Charles wasn’t exactly small, yet the man took him fully in without so much as a gagging noise. His tongue was quick and skilled and he didn’t protest when Charles grabbed him by his short hair to move his face as he liked. How perfect it felt to push into something soft and moist that wasn’t his own fist.  
After what couldn’t have been more than an embarrassing 3 minutes, Charles let go of the other man’s head and warned him of what was about to happen. The hustler pulled off, gave him two quick tugs and Charles came hot and panting into his broad hand. 

He slumped back against the door breathing shallowly, his body tingling and loose. He did not even remotely give a fuck about what happened around him. May the bloody truck be taken by whoever wanted the garbage inside of it. He’d even let the hustler take his wallet too, if he wanted. Fuck the money he earned when he had no one and nowhere to spend it on. Fuck everything that wasn’t this glorious boneless feeling that spread through him.  
He closed his eyes, just for a second... 

He was snapped back to himself by the sound of someone spitting on the concrete next to the truck. The man had taken a gulp from a water bottle and rinsed out his mouth. Charles looked down at his softening cock and had to admit that it probably wasn’t very enticing. The blowjob only intensified the pungent smell he had accumulated over the hours sitting behind the wheel. The next stop with decent showers was his. 

He’d need to wash the hustler’s traces off too. He didn’t want to know who else, with things far far worse than nasty body odour, had used that mouth lately without protection. Stupid, Xavier, stupid!  
Not to mention highly illegal. What had he been thinking? The best would be to get rid of the guy here. The further he took him the more likely it was that their transaction would be discovered-

His train of thought came to a halt when the other man straightened in the passenger’s seat and buckled up his seatbelt. He gave Charles the look of someone who had been let down at this point very often, and was waiting for what Charles would do. The man had upheld his part of their arrangement and it would take a bigger arsehole than Charles to rebuff him like this.  
He tucked himself back in, scrambled for the wet towels he had in the glove compartment and gave one to the hustler. He tried to collect himself enough by combing his hair back with his fingers before he started the truck and headed out onto the road.

\------

They didn’t talk much. Charles had asked his passenger if the classic rock station was alright to which he received a quiet nod.  
The choice was cliché, but he truly liked the music and it kind of went with his whole personality and appearance lately. The girls at the office had started calling him “rock star sexy”, teasingly at first, but Angel was giving him more and more heated looks the longer his hair grew.  
Moreover, “Erik” seemed to be into the music too, if his fingers tapping to AC/DC were an indication.

After 3 hours, he reached for the catalogues Charles had stowed between the seats: Toys “R” Us and some computer game magazines. He started studying them with great interest, so Charles couldn’t help but ask him amusedly: “See anything you like?”

“These are toys… you collect something?” 

“Oh no no, they’re for my son. He’s turning nine soon. So far it’s been quite easy to get him something he likes, but now… He changes so quickly and I don’t have a clue what nine year olds play with these days.” 

“So why don’t you ask him what he wants?”

“I don’t see him that often. My- my ex has full custody. They live in Upstate New York with her new husband.”

Erik hummed as if he understood. 

“What about these?” He was pointing at some remote controlled planes.

Charles laughed. 

“I’m afraid David isn’t the most coordinated boy. Giving him something he can crash into a house would be disastrous.”

Erik bared his teeth again and slowly Charles realised that this was his actual smile.

“And what about these? They stay on the ground.” Now he had the page with the mini-tanks open.

“No.” 

Charles was surprised by how harsh his voice sounded and he tensed. 

“Nothing military themed. I won’t get him the crap that tries to make soldiers out of little boys.”

“Have you been a soldier?”

“Yes.” He paused. He wasn’t one of those people who spilled their life story to a cheap prostitute. 

“Bosnia. Fucked-up place. I always thought I knew cruelty, but what some people did to their own over there- It just left me happy with where I was born, you know? No matter what happens to me here, there are always others who have it worse.” 

Apparently he did spill to a cheap prostitute. One that was working the truck stops and obviously ‘had it worse’.

“Which doesn’t mean that I accept that of course. I always try to help people.” 

He blushed at Erik’s mocking smile. 

“Were you in the army too?” 

“Yes… I think if you go with anything Game Boy related your son should be happy. Do you want to hear what the newest games are about?” 

“Sure, why not.” Charles smiled as the man next to him began reading him the blurbs about some Japanese monster collecting game and the newest jump-and-run instalments.

\----

They reached the stop Charles had had in mind in 3 ½ hours. It was run by a former Taiwanese fireman who kept his showers impeccably clean, and didn’t judge anyone who went there, nor pried into what they used them for. 

Erik stretched his body when they got out of the cabin. His shirt rode further up on his lean body and Charles couldn’t help but stare at the muscles working under his skin.

“I’ve got to keep my rest hours. We’ll be here for a while. I don’t want to hamper your business, so if you want to go off to do your thing, it’s fine. I’ll take a shower and sleep for 4 hours. You can join me after that.”

Or he could join him now. Charles hadn’t taken a shower with anyone in a long time and he craved to see this body fully naked. And more. But he didn’t know how to ask. The only other time he had done this with a man for cash, the boy had immediately put it on the table. Also Charles had been too drunk to really care. 

This, however, was more complicated. What was the proper procedure for this sort of thing? He wanted to continue his trip with the man, but just bringing it up was pretty offensive. Then again, Erik was probably used to this kind of directness.

“It’s fine. You’re not hampering anything. But a shower sounds great.” Erik smiled his strange smile that didn’t fully reach his eyes. “It’s another ten bucks. And I’d very much appreciate it if you bought me a beer.”

Charles grinned. 

“Deal. But I was actually thinking of something different than what we did before… Is that on offer too?”

The reaction that rushed over Erik’ face: if Charles hadn’t known better, he would have sworn it was arousal.

“I mean it’s ok if you say no. It’s your choice.”

“No, no, it’s alright. It’s fifty bucks though. And you pay me for the condom and the lube. Also it’s a good thing that we will be doing it in a shower.”

Charles smiled.

“Sounds alright. And don’t worry, I don’t mind if it gets a bit messy.” 

As they walked over to the showers, he wondered how many times Erik has been asked to be fucked.  
There aren’t that many gay truckers, or truckers like Charles who appreciated the human body regardless of gender. Which didn’t mean that male hustlers weren’t used this way. To many an ass is an ass, especially when you haven’t seen a decent one for a while. And there is always the aspect of dominance.  
You don’t have to be attracted to a strong ~~er~~ , more powerful body to relish in the feeling of having it submit to your needs. 

Charles understood that appeal all too well, but he also was taken by the view that presented itself to him.  
Erik had an incredible build. It had been obvious before with his clothes on, but now it was so much better. Charles could finally touch the taut skin over defined muscle. So nice, warm and alive. Different, not his own.  
And so utterly destroyed. 

Erik’s shoulders looked like someone had gone mad with barbed wire. Parts of Charles wanted to know the story behind this, but a much bigger part of him was too busy with the moment. 

Unashamed of the scars, the man switched on the water and turned to Charles. The warm spray was heavenly. He began to scrub Charles, directing the water over his stringy hair until it was completely soaked.  
Then he kneaded his stiff neck and the tense muscles beneath. Erik wasn’t an expert but it still felt great to have someone smooth out the twinges and touch his naked skin. Charles savoured it for a few minutes, letting him soap him up and clean him of the grime. Eventually, Charles spun around, eager to feel for himself and to return the touches.

Erik’s wet skin let Charles’ fingers slide over the hard body easily, the curve of his arms, the damp curls on his chest, and up to the rough face. He stepped closer. He didn’t know this guy’s policy for kissing on the mouth and he didn’t want to ruin the moment by asking.  
Instead he nipped at his collar bones and when Erik didn’t protest, he kept tracing the other man’s body with his lips. The urge to taste won over and his tongue trailed along, taking in the salty, musky flavour. When he looked up he saw that the hustler had closed his eyes and was smiling widely. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. It just occurred to me that you’re not very tall.”

Charles grinned and effortlessly pushed Erik against the tiled wall.

“That’s one way to put it. I guess it means you will have to spread your legs wider.”

He closed back in and kissed the skin harder, not hesitating to use his teeth. It earned him a hitched gasp, strong arms slung around his body and a broad hand buried in his wet hair. 

Charles clasped the man closer and noticed that he wasn’t the only one aroused by this. He felt up the small cheeks of Erik’s behind, grabbed and sunk his bitten nails into them. He bit the base of Erik’s neck and ground his hips in. The glide along the slick, soapy body was amazing. 

“You like this?”

“What?” 

“You like this? Me?”

It was a growl, defensive and insecure. 

“You’re absolutely gorgeous.” 

Erik exhaled long against the top of Charles’ head and curled even further around him. His hand was back in Charles’ hair, urging Charles’ face against his heated, beautiful body.  
Charles gripped the narrow waist and pushed against the other man’s thigh over and over again in maddening circles.  
If it hadn’t been for the blowjob, he’d gotten off like this, but now he needed more. With a last nip on Erik’s neck he turned the man around, who obligingly spread his legs bringing their hips to the same level.

Charles had learned that the best way to go about this was to be quick and selfish. He was the one who paid for it, it was about his pleasure. If he tried to make it enjoyable for the other person too, it got awkward fast.  
That, however, didn’t mean that he wouldn’t kiss his way down the other man’s spine, slightly worried by the prominence of the vertebrae. It didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be careful when he teased the other man open. First with his tongue, tasting him, then with one finger, two fingers.  
Despite his own previous concerns, Erik was clean and relaxed into it easily. With his arms braced against the wall, legs apart, he took Charles at the second try without much resistance. Charles was the one who had to breathe through it, the tight heat wrapped around him so perfect and welcoming. 

Being selfish about it also didn’t mean that he would just plough away. The sounds he wrung out of the man with only shallow thrusts were an incredible turn-on. Mixed with the noise of his own panting, and the wet bodies slamming up against each other, they created a loop that pushed him further and further. He wanted to go on like this forever. Grabbing a scarred shoulder and a lean hip, he bent the man into a different angle, shoving in faster and deeper.  
It was a matter of minutes until his lower body took over control, making his movements erratic and desperate. All he could do was hold on to the other man, suck in the humid air and shudder into his orgasm. Hot waves of pleasure shot into where he was joined to the other body, melting away his sorrows and senses.

When he could focus again he nearly lost his footing. Erik was pushing back against him, grinding on Charles. Only then he saw the frantic twisting of the man’s right hand as he brought himself off.  
Charles pressed back in, squeezed him and held the man tight as he fell apart around him with a long moan. They didn’t move for a while but after Charles had pulled out, Erik looked back at him.  
There was a bit of questioning shame but mostly defiance in his gaze. Fuck policies. Charles grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him into a kiss. Erik didn’t open up immediately but when he did it was breathy, hungry and wonderful.  
They turned back under the spray, washed away the sweat and Erik’s cum, and kissed a second time.

Charles had just made a hooker come, he was very proud of that, not to mention the vigour and ease that always lit up his body after good sex. But did it _mean_ something? He didn’t know. It was probably nothing. 

He bought the beer at the little store next to the showers. One can, not more. It’s always a little triumph.  
He also got some alright looking sandwiches, some crisps and soda, as well as some apples and chocolate bars. He knew that in a few hours he’d be as hungry as a grizzly and Erik looked like he could use a few calories too.  
Back at the truck, Erik had crawled into the small bed at the rear of the cabin as Charles had told him to. He was already fast asleep and didn’t wake when Charles got out of his clothes and lay down next to him.

\----

Four hours later, Charles awoke with one of his legs thrown over the thin body and his head resting on the naked chest. 

What the hell was he doing? 

He had just been cuddling the hooker he had picked up at a truck stop. A man. A man he didn’t know at all and who could get him into jail. This was just fucked up.  
Erik was awake too, watching him sleep. He wasn’t pleased about the position they had slept in, yet he hadn’t disrupted Charles. Charles couldn’t make a head nor tail of him. His eyes were too pretty for a guy too. 

Charles cleared his throat, sat up and got the food. Erik didn’t eat much, he liked the apples though, and when they were back on their way he opened the beer. 

They didn’t talk a lot, mostly about the music that was on. Charles wanted to know so much more though: why Erik was here, where he got the scars from, if he had felt something between them too. 

But they didn’t touch any subject that was deeper than Journey lyrics. If it wasn’t for Erik’s uncomfortable shifting in his seat, nothing would indicate that something had gone on last night.  
When they finally reached Phoenix, Charles asked: “Where shall I drop you off?”

“Where’re you dropping off your stuff?”

“The Staples in Paradise Valley Village.”

“Can you let me off at the stop at the intersection when we get into the city?”

“Sure.”

Charles looked at the man who was deliberately staring out of the window. 

“Do you have anyone here in Phoenix? Someone you’re gonna stay with?”

“Yeah…”

He was a bit offended by that lie. Why didn’t he tell him that he didn’t? Why had he come with him if he was going to leave immediately anyhow? It all didn’t matter anymore when he turned into the stop Erik had requested before.

“So, am I gonna see you again?”

Erik smiled; he looked a bit like a coyote when he did that - a Lot Coyote, not a lizard. 

“If you want to. But you know…”Erik looked out at the lot. 

Yes, Charles knew. He would deliver his freight, and get his new appointment - LA (he had already checked back with Angel) and then Portland. Erik would pick up the next trucker, get on board and go with him wherever he was headed. The chances that their paths would cross again weren’t very high. 

“Listen. I don’t want to be creepy or anything, but if you need something, someone to talk to or someone to remind you that Blue Öyster Cult rocks or anything else,” he smiled weakly “you can call me. That’s my card, and my truck number. If I’m not at home, you can call the company and they will put you through, okay?”

Erik looked at him as if he was taking the piss out of him, but then his face gentled as much as it could and he took the card.

“Okay. Drive safe.”

“I will. Take care of yourself.”

“Always.”

He grinned the strange smirk again, got off the stairs and closed the door behind him. 

When Charles left the lot, he looked back and saw Erik raising his arm in farewell.


End file.
